In Transition No More - My final post on this blog.

Good morning Change Heroines and Heroes.  Today will be my final blog on Ruby Slippers.  Thank you to all of you who have read, and commented or shared my site.  I pray that somehow in some of the words you found encouragement in your own transition times.

I have reached closure in my transition.  I am no longer a "transient" seeking, yearning, grasping to stay alive.  I am alive through the power of prayer, love and forgiveness.  I no longer have to wish away trouble and pain.  I have a Savior who heals and tends to my brokenness like no physician on earth can.

During my transition I have leanred the ultimate Truth.  We are all born to be changing and moving along a designed pathway specifically engineered for us by a perfect God.  All we must do is stay in relationship through putting our trust in Him completely.  Knowing that He has the BEST for us.  That there is nothing we can do to earn it ourselves - but that it is a free gift given to us through His body and blood sacrifice.  Praise His Name.

In transition these are things I learned that bear repeating.

Whatever circumstances come to you - they will be used to strengthen you for your next mark on the path.  Do not resist the fire. Allow it to succumb you.  Allow it to purify you through and through.  If it were not for the fire, our impurities would remain and we would find ourselves a part of this imperfect world - which we were never called to be.  In it, yes, but not OF IT.  Stay clear of evil in thoughts and actions.

Self focus is sin.  Christ focus is the beginning of Heaven on earth for the disciple of Christ.

God still heals and performs miracles.  I was healed many times during this transition.  God also brought me to the point of death, and I saw His reward,  He gave me a glimpse as a balm to my shattered soul.  His Word is true.

When we leap in Jesus Name, He is there to catch and break our fall.

To remain static in life is to become a stale image of what could have been.  Repeating the same words, prayers, ministries, relationships over and over even though the water has run low.  Scum floats on the top and the water has a nasty taste to it yet we keep going to that water because it is all we have.  We have not gone to the River of Life and allowed it to run through us and over us, cleansing us and taking us farther upstream where new life awaits.

My dear friends.  I will miss you.  I will miss Ruby Slippers.  My transition is only beginning - I have many miles to go before I sleep.  I pray that you too go down to the River, jump in the icy water, and allow it to carry you upstream to the next chapter in your life.

Be Blessed.  And thank you again for following me.

Change in the Secret Place

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly —Matthew 6:6

God is speaking to each us of us in the secret places of our hearts.  We should all have a secret place, a prayer closet that we go to.  What is a closet?  It is a dark, quiet place where we can be alone and commune with God.  Why is it dark?  So that we can focus our eyes on nothing but His power.  Why is it quiet? So that we cannot be distracted by the noise of our lives.

In the closet your mind and emotions will continue to distract you.  It will take discipline to bring your whole body, mind and spirit into that place where only God is there.

Every morning when God allows me another day I have a habit of praying with Him and praising Him before I rise.  Every morning I wake with Jesus on my lips.  Jesus, be with me today.  Jesus, guide my thoughts today.  Jesus, use me today.  

Every night I say the Lord's prayer over and over before I sleep.

Every day when I am restless, I stop and quiet myself.  Go to my prayer closet and spend time with Him.

Your relationship with God through prayer and His Word will keep your inner emotions balanced.  It will keep your desires balanced.  It will sustain you through temptations.

As we continue through our molting season to become the best we can be, remember your prayer closet.  Go to it frequently.  Make it a habit of yours.  We are creatures of habit.  Habit is something that is in our nature.  We were never designed for destructive habits.  We were designed for habits that delight God.  The habit of prayer, the habit of scripture, the habit of caring for others, the habit of praise, the habit of caring for His temple (our body), the habit of charity and the habit of love.  Cultivate these habits in your life and see what changes God brings about.

Be blessed today.

**Cathy is a writer, speaker and worship leader.  You may contact her at 217 521 2070 or cwoolaway@yahoo.com

The Time in Transition is the Reality.

Good morning Change Heroes and Change Heroines.  I have been blogging about transition time and seeking God's Will in the transition.  What I have missed is this - when you are clearly following Christ - your hand in His there is NO transition.  The transition is living the real life in Christ.  Wrap your head around that for a moment.  Each moment each day each circumstance each person each act when you are completely surrendered to Him needs no explanation, no examination because it is the Christ centered path that He is leading you on.  Think about it in nature.  Nothing in nature is static.  The sun moves, the moon moves, the planets revolve, the grass grows, it dies, the caterpillar morphs, the birds molt, clouds move and people change physically.  All nature is change.  All nature is moving towards it's purpose.  All nature is change and yet predictable...commonplace.  The beauty of embracing change and transition is that you are simply moving towards the purpose you were meant to have.  You were meant to grow older.  You were meant to change your social status.  Those who remain as they were 5 years, 10 years, 20 years ago are out of God's Will.  There I said it.  But before you throw the tomatoes, think about people you know.

There is the family who lives together until the children leave home.  Yet the children never leave home.  They stay close or live with their parents.  Not because they have to or need to but because it is familiar, comforting.  No need to bring others into your circle - you have all you need in your own little family.

What about the person who prays the same prayer over every meal, exactly the same.  Bless this food to our body in Jesus Name, Amen.  They don't read the Bible regularly, they don't pray regularly, they have no real personal relationship - but they pray the same prayer and teach each succeeding generation to do the same.  Teaching a shallow grace.

What about the single person who lives for the moment?  Their lives look full of change but inside they remain the same.  Seeking out the same type of people, entertainment, self expression, sin, lust, greed, envy, jealousy.  Call it what you will - but the relationships you make are a solid reflection of your heart.  Do you surround yourself with rebels?  Why?  Because your heart is rebellious.  Do you surround yourself with gossips?  Why?  Because your heart is full of envy.  Do you surround yourself with "pretty people?"  Your heart is shallow.  Do you surround yourself with those that like what you like?  Like to do what you do?  Your heart is closed to opportunity and full of self gratification.

My friends - your transition is not a transition at all - but just another molt that God is taking you through.  Guard your hearts during this time.  Stay in the Word during this time.  Fall on your face during this time of molt.  You are shedding something to better reflect a more beautiful Him.

Prayers today.

**Cathy is a writer, speaker, worship leader and lover of Jesus.  You can contact her at 217 521 2070 or cwoolaway@yahoo.com

In Transition - Understanding His Will.

"A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer." Chambers

Good morning Change Heroines and Change Heroes.  For those of us in transition the above statement by Oswald Chambers may be a balm to our spirit or it may cut like a knife into our hearts.  Transition and change are uncomfortable - whether it be seen as negative or positive it shakes us from our familiarity and causes our earthly bodies to crave the familiar and go back to what life was or re-shape the new experience into something that looks and feels like the "old place."  The Word says, "I will give you rest...."  Rest from carrying sin, past grief, past failure, past history....the past.  When God is leading us to a new place - why would we want to re-shape that new place to resemble the past?  What Oswald seems to be saying is that as a child of God every area of your life is submitted to Him.  Therefore when transitions arise you hold your Father's hand and walk faithfully beside Him.  There is a trick of the mind which says "I will hold onto my Father's hand until we arrive at what I perceive to be the destination...and then I will let go because I have arrived."  Dear friends life in Christ is never arriving at a destination.  Our ultimate destination is Heaven.  We must keep our hand fully in His to be lead.  We must put away our future thoughts of what might be and who we are so that we might be fully in His rest and thereby fully in His Will.  This is the ultimate act of releasing control to become a child of God.  When we find ourselves asking "Lord what is Your Will?" as Chambers shares above - we are out of His Will.

Here is a list of helpful things you can do to remain a child of God.

1.  Know the Lord God through His Word.  Memorize it. Keep it fresh morning and night.
2.  Pray for a clear understanding from God.  Open your hand to Him each morning in preparation to walk in obedience with Him all day long.
3.  Let go of anything that puts you in a disintegrating relationship with Christ or that feels like guilt or sin.  Make a list of all the things that may separate you from a full life of rest in Christ and begin to release those with the help of the Holy Spirit.
4.  See yourself as God sees you - His child.  Not a father, mother, sister, brother...but His child.  Think about how you see your own children and then try to imagine how God sees you.  
5.  Pray to God as a Father.  Ask for those things that you want.  Just as a child asks, so should you.  Our Father wants to give His children the very best.  Pray for the best in your life.

Matthew 11:28 reminds us "Come ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

I pray that today is the start of a new relationship between you and God.  That of child and Father.  Trustor and Protector.  Innocent and unmoveable, unshakeable Rock.

Blessings.

**Cathy is a writer, speaker and worship leader.  You may contact her for engagements at cwoolaway@yahoo.com or 217.521.2070.

Finding Rest in Transition

Good morning Change Heroines and Heroes as well as I have been greatly pleased to find that the image is not oft putting to our Heroes who find themselves in transition.  This past week and this weekend I found myself doing what I ought not do.  Self-examination in change and transition is one way to stay off -balanced and I am convinced that it is a trick used to keep us from being Christ-examiners.  The word itself  "self-examination" should give us the large red flag that anytime self is at the front - Christ cannot be.  The world tells us that we should constantly be examining ourselves physically, mentally, relationally, spiritually.  It is all about how I feel, how I was treated, how I need to respond, how I , I , I.  Christ was never about himself - but always about His Father.  Christ was meek and lowly in spirit. His energy and passion came from a deep need to share His Father's message of grace, mercy and love.  Our focus on ourselves is rooted in our sin nature.  The more we allow it the deeper our despair becomes.  The sins of our past become great burdens to us that weigh us down and throw us into depression and despair.  Self examination is cleverly disguised as improvement, reflection, learning from the past, forgiving ourselves.  It is not sin - but it does not bring rest as Christ defines rest.

Those who are in transition typically are there because of circumstances that happened TO them, not that they themselves imposed.  Most people don't embrace change or transition.  Moving is a heavy load (literally!).  The physical work involved is great and the mental and emotional toll it takes as we leave familiar surroundings behind to walk into an unknown future can throw us into a roller coaster of emotions resulting in a focus on oneself.  The burden is heavy.  If you are in transition not of your choosing and the path in front of you is foggy and unclear, panic and the need to control can also bring you into despair.

Sharing all this brings me finally to the point of the message I received this weekend.  If you are heavy laden with burdens of past sin and failure your Father longs to take that burden and give you rest.  The rest that comes from knowing that your past is behind you, your sins are forgiven and His way brings the rest you need from carrying that weight.  I read this morning on this passage from Matthew 11:28 "Come all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest."   One theologian compared that figure of Atlas carrying the world on his shoulder.  Perhaps you have seen this sculpture in New York.  This man shared that even that great weight of carrying the world was not a fraction of the burden we feel when we carry the weight of past sin, past regret and past guilt.  This is the burden that Christ removes for all of us...not just for some, but for all.  In transition we need to move from self examination to Christ-examiniation.  We need to come to Him and lay our sins and self at His feet.  Open our hands and allow Him to give us the rest that comes from a pure spirit.  No one is beyond the covering of Christ.  Nothing is beyond the covering of Christ.  The blackest heart can be turned into the whitest snow.

If you are in a state of change - hold out your hand - give Him your burden and find rest in the chaos of your life.


**Cathy is a speaker, writer and worship leader.  Contact her at cwoolaway@yahoo.com or 217 521 2070.  And please leave comments.  I love to hear from those who read this blog.**

In Transition - Affirming Your Call

Good morning change heroines.  It is a beautiful day in Illinois and I am blessed to live a free life of peace.  It has not always been this way for me.  Even up until recently I have struggled with my path or direction.  This blog is dedicated to change and transition, so sharing my personal stories, I hope, will be an encouragement to others who also struggle with staying on the path.

Recently I was given the opportunity to affirm my path.  As a worship pastor I have served in many churches.  Recently God gave me a break.  I had been serving tirelessly for over 11 years with only three Sundays off a year.  I had gone through personal tragedy, the loss of a loved parent, a divorce in the family that rocked my world, and the stress a mother encounters when her grown children select different lifestyles than what they were brought up with.  5 moves in 5 years combined with high stress at work created a perfect storm for me.  Trying to hide behind a mask only lasts so long.  People who know you sense your vulnerability and some reach out to help, but others use it as an opportunity to tear away at you until there is nothing left.  I was given a sabbatical by God.  90 days to rest, heal and understand my transition time.  What I have discovered is that God still desires to use me in worship ministry.  God still desires for me to share the Gospel.  God is calling me to an even deeper relationship than I had before.  God uses my prayers to heal others and God is healing me physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

When you are in the middle of a transition you may question your call, your path that you feel God has called you to.  Am I done?  Are you finished with me? Am I too old for this?  Am I not relevant anymore? Am I too broken to be used?  All of these questions and more may come to your mind.

What I want to share with you is that if you are pursuing the best that God has for you, allow Him to affirm your call.  Keep walking, or crawling through the doors of opportunity - even if they are only open a crack - follow them.  God will firmly close and open doors.  Just remember, that He does this according to His Divine plan for your life and not your own plans for your life.  He will bless those that stay the course.  He will also take time for further purification.  Don't be afraid of this process.  Release yourself to it and submit to it knowing that God is using this time to prepare you for something greater.  

Don't give up!  Don't spin your wheels seeking searching for anything to fill the time in the transition.  Use it to learn, to grow, to heal so that you can be a blessing to others when you come out the other side.

Know that you are loved change heroines.  I may or may not know those that are reading these blogs...but I want you to know that I love you and I believe in you and so does God!

“. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3)."Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself."  Oswald Chambers

**Cathy is a writer, speaker and worship leader.  You may contact her for speaking engagements at cwoolaway@yahoo.com or 217 521 2070

You Too Can Be A Change Heroine!

Good morning Change Heroines.  You may ask why I call you Heroines.  A heroine by definition is a woman with great courage who dares to fight for the good side.  She is inspirational to other people and always chooses the Light.  A change heroine is someone who goes through change with courage and her eyes focused on the Light...for herself and for others no matter what the cost - even death to herself or to things she has loved.  Is it easy to be a change heroine?  Nope.  It is hard.  If it were easy everyone would be doing it and this world would be full of Light instead of so much darkness and misery.  That's why I am calling YOU to join me in a crusade to become a world of female heroines.  Fighting for good fighting for the Light to make a difference in your communities.  Ruby Slippers is more than a blog - it is a cause to stand up to darkness and evil wherever we find it.  Dorothy could magically click her heels and be transported back to safety.  There are many woman and children in this world who don't have ruby slippers - but we ladies, yes we can make the difference and give them hope.  

I will be blogging about specific things we can do in community to help.  I would ask for your prayers.  I would ask you to begin to "like" and "share" this on your facebook page.  I would ask you to ask your friends to begin to follow this blog.  We will become change heroines together through social media and prayerfully each of us will become a change heroine - a courageous woman who isn't afraid to stand up for what is right.  We can change our little corner of the world.  Won't you join my community?

I love Alison Krauss and found this simple song encouraging.  I hope you do too.

**Cathy is a writer and speaker and worship leader who longs to become a change heroine for girls and women looking to bring Light into their corner of the world.  Contact her at cwoolaway@yahoo.com or 217.521.2070.

Their Idea? or God's Idea?

Good morning Change Heroines.  How is your transition going?  Is God opening doors for you?  Has He closed some?  Are you stuck in the desert right now - uncertain and unsure?  Well push on champions because it may be hard to see because of the clouds of dust as He circles round you, but embrace those clouds today whether they be white or gray. His way is BEST!

I want to talk this morning about the people around us in the change transition.  Our family has known us for a very long time.  They have their own idea of who we are - and they place that on us.  You may be the musical one, or the crafty one, or the pretty one, or the educated one, or the bossy one, or the crazy one, or the sweetest one....you get the picture.  If we are to allow God to radically change our lives we must allow Him to radically change our habits.  What we read, where we go, what we eat and drink, who we hang with should always be measured by is it God's Best for us?   Our dearest members of our family may or may not be on board with this new you.  "But she used to, but we used to, she's changing and I want that other girl back."  If we are always worried about what our loved ones think, we will continue to model their expectations of us. And while this keeps us close to our loved ones, with no tension, is it what is best for us?  And ultimately is it what is best for them?

Deep inside us there is a gnawing aching place that can only be filled by the Holy Spirit.  I talked Tuesday about how we fill it with other things...but ultimately to find the peace and joy and to exhibit the fruits of the spirit that Jesus talks about we must give that hole to Him.  The Priests were the only one's allowed to go into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant resided.  It was a purification process before they entered.  They were naked and tied with a rope lest they caught fire being so close to God Himself and the other priests could pull them out.  By grace we don't have to go through that kind of ritual today.  All we need do is release that place within us.  Our Holy of Holies is our heart, the organ that allows life.  Give it to God and let Him change you from the inside out by inhabiting that place.

You might be surprised by your friends and families reactions to you.  At first there will be surprise, then scepticism, than possibly anger hurt and rejection.  But ultimately as you hold fast, they will realize that this is not imitation and you are no longer just a good person - you truly are better and moving toward your BEST.

If you are in the middle of a "what will they think" moment - I'll pray for strength for you today.  Be the one that takes the road less traveled.  Be the one that breaks the cycle.  Don't be afraid of being different and don't be afraid of the greatness that God has planned for you.

**Cathy is a speaker, writer and worship leader.  You may reach her at 217 521 2070 or at cwoolaway@yahoo.com